Clippers’ Leonard, George return
Clippers’ star duo Kawhi Leonard and Paul George cleared health and safety protocols and returned to the starting lineup Friday against the Magic.
Leonard and George missed the first two games on the current six-game road trip. The two were placed in the NBA’s health and safety protocols on Monday.
The Clippers lost to the Hawks on Tuesday before beating the Heat on Thursday in the two games without Leonard and George. Leonard is averaging 25.9 points, 5.4 rebounds, 5.7 assists and 2.0 steals this season. George is averaging 23.9 points, 6.2 rebounds, 5.4 assists and 1.2 steals.
College basketball: Kentucky says its men’s basketball game against No. 5 Texas has been canceled and all team activities have been paused for 48 hours. The school said Friday it took those steps because of a combination of positive COVID-19 tests, contact tracing and quarantining.
NFL: The Lions on Friday added Duce Staley, Mark Brunell, Mark DeLeone and Dom Capers to their coaching staff. Staley joins new coach Dan Campbell’s staff as running backs coach and assistant head coach. Brunell will be the team’s quarterbacks coach, and DeLeone will coach inside linebackers. Capers was hired as a senior defensive assistant . ... Packers defensive coordinator Mike Pettine and special teams coordinator Shawn Mennenga were fired Friday after the team’s second straight NFC championship game loss last Sunday. Both firings were first reported by NFL Network. Pettine had been the Packers’ defensive coordinator for three seasons — taking over one year before LaFleur’s arrival. Mennenga had been special teams coordinator for each of LaFleur’s two seasons as head coach . ... The Seahawks hired Shane Waldron as their new offensive coordinator, the first time in his career he’ll be responsible for running an offense and calling plays. Waldron’s hiring was announced Friday, more than two weeks after the Seahawks fired Brian Schottenheimer. Waldron, 41, spent the past four seasons as the passing game coordinator for the Rams.
NHL: The NHL has postponed the Golden Knights’ two games next week against the Sharks over concerns about the coronavirus. Golden Knights defenseman Alex Pietrangelo and three coaches are in the NHL’s COVID-19 protocol and unavailable. Vegas also had a game against the Blues that had been scheduled for Thursday postponed.
WNBA: Liberty guard Layshia Clarendon, who identifies as transgender and nonbinary, announced on social media Friday that they had surgery to remove breast tissue. “It’s hard to put into words the feeling of seeing my chest for the first time free of breasts, seeing my chest the way I’ve always seen it, and feeling a sense of gender euphoria as opposed to gender dysphoria,” Clarendon wrote on Instagram, along with a photo taken after the surgery. “Sighhhh... freedom... freedom at last.” Clarendon has been generally open about their identity but felt trepidation in sharing news of the operation due to “the amount of hate, myths & ignorance.” Clarendon decided to share the photo because “I want Trans people to know and see that we’ve always existed & no one can erase us!”